Recombinant vaccinia virus GLV-1h68 is a promising oncolytic vector in the treatment of cholangiocarcinoma.

Although early stage cholangiocarcinoma (CC) can be cured by surgical extirpation, the options for treatment of advanced stage CC are very few and suboptimal. Oncolytic virotherapy using replication-competent vaccinia virus (VACV) is a promising new strategy to treat human cancers. The ability of oncolytic VACV GLV-1h68 to infect, replicate in, and lyse three human CC cell lines was assayed in vitro and in subcutaneous flank xenografts in athymic nude mice. In this study, we have demonstrated that GLV-1h68 effectively infects and lyses three CC cell lines (KMC-1, KMBC, and KMCH-1) in vitro. Expression of the viral marker gene ruc-gfp facilitated real-time monitoring of infection and replication. Furthermore in athymic nude mice, a single dose of GLV-1h68 significantly suppressed tumor growth. The treatment was well tolerated in all animals. Recombinant VACV GLV-1h68 has significant oncolytic ability against CC both in vitro and in vivo. GLV-1h68 has the potential to be used clinically as a therapeutic agent against CC.